tarboat's photos

Brodsworth Colliery commenced when two shafts were sunk between October 1905 and 1907 in a joint venture by the Hickleton Main Colliery Company and the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. The Barnsley seam which was reached at a depth of 595 yards and was up to 9 feet thick and after a third shaft was sunk in 1923, Brodsworth, was the largest colliery in Yorkshire and had the highest output of a three-shaft colliery in Britain. The colliery was consistently amongst those that employed the most miners in Britain, employing around 2,800 workers throughout the 1980s. It closed in 1990 and the site has since been cleared.

This spot is the location of a well that supplied water to the town of Rye. In the 18th century there was a pump powered by horses but in 1869 the structure was rebuilt with a steam pump. By 1907 it had become used as a soup kitchen and following decades of various uses, it is now home to the award-winning Rye Waterworks Micropub and Microbrewery. The building is listed Grade II.

In 1806, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) gave assent for the theatre to be built and it opened on 27 June 1807. The theatre struggled until it was purchased in 1854 by actor Henry John Nye Chart, who engaged theatre architect Charles J. Phipps to begin a programme of expansion and redevelopment. The theatre improved its reputation and finances, becoming a respected venue. In 1920, the financial buoyancy of the Theatre enabled the directors to buy adjacent properties and make substantial improvements to the building. In 1923 the Theatre purchased the Colonnade Hotel, now the Colonnade bar and in 1927, the last major structural enlargement was made to the auditorium. On 20 August 1971 it became a Grade II* listed building, listed as "The Theatre Royal and the Colonnade Public House (Number 10) and Attached Colonnade and Stage Entrance to the Theatre Royal". I have no idea why they have been allowed to paint the stone collonade in a faux terracotta red.

QJs 6882 and 6639 catch the glint as they bring their westbound train towards the summit of the Jinpeng section of the Jitong Railway.

Hudswell Clarke 1884 was built in 1955 to a design used for the supply of locomotives to the Port of London Authority. It went to the National Coal Board and worked at Newmarket Colliery, Near Wakefield. Here it carried the number S102 and worked alongside S103 (Hudswell Clarke Work Number 1864) which was built to the same design. It worked at the Colliery until 1969 and then following repairs at the central workshops (NCB Allerton Bywater). From there it moved to St Johns Colliery in Wakefield and worked there and at Park Hill Colliery in Wakefield. It was taken out of service in March 1977. It is now based on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway where it is was restored to service in 2021. As of July 2023 the locomotive was at Peak Rail where it was photographed in the shed. It was due to stay at Peak Rail for two years.

Conveyor runs and associated coal processing buildings at Donghaikuang Colliery in the Jixi area of Heilongjiang, China. Judging by Google Maps all this has now been cleared away. Things change very fast in China.

The rise and rise of JCB is a British success story and the plant manufacturer continues to expand its business. This is part of the JCB demonstration at the Hillhead quarry exhibition which also saw the spotlight on its most powerful and productive excavator ever, the 52-tonne 520X.

A member of the team is watching the road from on top of the tender as JS 5741 heads back to Hailar having deposited wagons at a nearby industrial premises. The locomotive was one of two station pilots that day. The shunter appears to be sitting on the front buffer beam.

The tallest piece of fixed equipment at this year's Hillhead quarry exhibition was this asphalt plant from the Turkish manufacturer E-MAK that specialises in asphalt and aggregate plant.

SY 0746 is under the loading bunkers at Donghaikuang Colliery at the end of a branch of the Jixi coal railways.

Kronospan has been operating at Chirk since the 1970’s. The works originally made particleboard and melamine and now also produces MDF, T&G flooring for the building trade, laminate flooring and worktops. It is the longest established manufacturer of wood-based panels, and the only laminate flooring producer in the UK. New timber is sourced in the UK and delivered by train and there is also use of reclaimed wood material

This plant at Point of Ayr had a capacity to treat 8.5 million cubic metres (300 million cubic feet) per day at standard conditions of sour gas from offshore. The gas was brought ashore via a 51 centimetres (20 inches) diameter, 33 km long pipeline. The plant separates methanol (used for hydrate inhibition), water and condensate from the gas stream. The gas was sweetened with an amine solvent to remove sulphur compounds down to 3.3 ppm hydrogen sulphide and 35 ppm mercaptans. The hydrocarbon dew-point of the gas is reduced by mechanical refrigeration to a quality suitable for pipeline transportation. The treated gas was piped to Connah's Quay Power Station at 30 bar via a 27 km pipeline. Any gas surplus to the fuel requirements of the power station was further treated and delivered to the Burton Point terminal of the National Transmission System. The site is owned by eni Liverpool Bay Operating Company Ltd, a subsidiary of eni UK Ltd. It was built near the site of a former colliery, which closed in August 1996. Approval for the site was given in February 1993, to be constructed by Hamilton Oil (of Denver, USA). BHP bought Hamilton Oil in 1991. The amount of gas to be brought onshore would be enough to provide electricity for half of Wales. Construction took place in 1994. eni bought BHP Billiton's interest in the Liverpool Bay Development in April 2014. In 2026 the gas field is exhausted and the terminal is under demolition. The site is intended to be re-used as a terminal for carbon dioxide, piped from a number of sources (cement works in particular), which is to be injected into the strata of the Morecambe Bay gas field.

Mallet 442-55 shunts at Nefasit on the Eritrea Railway.

It is gently snowing across the desert between Daba and Guyaozi as QJ 7205 nears Guyaozi with a long train of empty coal wagons.

Art deco cinema architecture. The Picturedrome cinema in Eastbourne first opened its doors on 21st December 1920 and almost made its centenary before closing as the Curzon in summer 2020.

In an afternoon heat haze Double Fairlie ‘Merddin Emrys’ heads a Blaenau Ffestiniog train across the Cob from Porthmadog.

Fulking limekiln, West Sussex. This medium-sized draw kiln has a face fronted with flints.

New Year sunshine as Neilson 2937 leaves Brownhills West station on the Chasewater Railway. The locomotive was built in 1882 and delivered to William Baird & Co at Bedlay Colliery near Glenboig, where it was given the No 11. It returned to service at Chasewater in 2025 after extensive restoration.